Review Of Tata Zica - Tata Motors is launching new products under its HORIZONEXT strategy and this car right here, is the third such vehicle to come after the Zest and Bolt. Called the Zica which stands for Zippy Car, this vehicle comes with two all new 3-cylinder engines, it has a lot of practical touches, well we are here in Goa to see how it fares in the real world. The Tata Zica is an attractive car with some design elements really standing out like the sleek headlights, wide front grille, strong lines and jewel shaped tail lights. Some angles of the Zica might remind one of competitor cars but it won't be wrong to say that it is the best looking Tata car yet. On the inside too, the Tata Zica impresses by offering an appealing dashboard with lots of chrome and piano black touches. There are some interesting features like the Bluetooth audio system which displays turn by turn navigation from the phone and the side AC vents which are body coloured on the orange and red coloured cars.
Other features include steering mounted controls, reverse parking sensors and a good sounding 8-speaker audio system. Tata Motors has made the Zica a very practical car and thus unlike the Bolt, it has plenty of storage bins inside the cabin, in fact there are 22. The front doors can hold two 500 ML bottles while the rear door can take a 1-litre bottle and the glove box has a separate space for a tablet. The boot is also big at 242-litres.
Space inside the cabin is good with the rear seat offering ample knee room and legroom but headroom is a bit lacking for tall passengers. The seats are comfortable in terms of back support but under-thigh support is somewhat lacking. Quality levels are good and the Tata Zica feels well put together. The Tata Zica is powered by two all new engines, both of them are 3-cylinder units which get Multi-Drive modes - City and Eco which does affect performance a bit because in Eco mode, you can feel the car doesn't redline as quick, as it does in city mode. Both these engines are tuned for city performance so yes there is good amount of low-end punch but as you rev it hard, specially the diesel, power tapers off very sharply. NVH levels are extremely good because their is absolutely no vibration from either the petrol or the diesel motor but yes it can get a bit noisy, once you hit past the mid-range.
The petrol engine is an all aluminium unit and is thus quicker in revving but just like the diesel, it lacks punch on the highway and needs downshifting for instant progress. The petrol motor's mid range isn't strong while the diesel lacks top-end punch. Tata Motors has got a good balance of ride and handling on the Zica. Now the big USP of the Zica is the ride quality, it is just fantastic, take it over bad bumps, bad roads, it continues to absorb everything in its stride without any sort of hesitation.
While the handling is good with the steering offering good feedback, understeer kicks in quite quickly. The Goodyear tyres on our test cars offer good grip and the brakes have surefooted stopping power. Tata Motors has struck the right chord with the Zica, now this car has good performance for the city, the ride quality is excellent, the cabin is spacious and there are lot of practical touches too, now these new 3-cylinder engines are very frugal and the highlight is the design because this car is a very un-Tata like car in terms of styling which is definitely going to appeal to hatchback buyers. Thanks for read Review Of Tata Zica.
